The novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic in April 9th, the German steel bank said that the steel demand for the construction and auto industries has been sharply reduced, and the European steel production may decline sharply, or fall to the level of the 2009 financial crisis. Since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, EU steel production has not fully recovered to the level before the financial crisis.
Novel coronavirus pneumonia is estimated to reduce more than 1 million 200 thousand vehicles in Europe, according to the European Association of automobile manufacturers. On April 6, the association of British car manufacturers and dealers cut its national car sales forecast by 23% to 1.73 million vehicles this year. According to Platts energy, steel demand from the automotive industry has decreased by about 55000 tons / day due to the shutdown of a large number of automotive production lines in Europe. The response to the epidemic affected manufacturing activities, parts supply and automobile procurement. "Novel coronavirus pneumonia is also being affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic prevention measures in some European countries," said Commerzbank.
Commerzbank said steel market participants expect a similar decline in steel production as in 2009, as steelmakers will have to respond to weak demand.
EU crude steel production decreased from 199 million tons in 2008 to 139 million tons in 2009, a year-on-year decrease of 30.2%; it reached 159 million tons in 2019, a decrease of 5% compared with 2018. Since the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia this year, several blast furnaces have been temporarily suspended in the European steel industry, and many steel mills have maintained relatively low equipment operation levels and greatly reduced their capacity.
In terms of raw material demand, European steel producers reduced their use of Brazilian iron ore, leading vale, the world's largest iron ore producer, to increase its sales quota in Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.
